Report: Leonard Hamilton plans to stay at FSU

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton is comfortable at FSU and has no interest in the coaching vacancy at Illinois, according to a Wednesday morning report.

ESPN.com cited an unnamed source with "direct knowledge of (Hamilton's) plans" as having said the coach wants to stay with the Seminoles and continue to build up what he believes will be a better team in 2012-13.

Those claims run counter to what was reported late Tuesday night by the Chicago Tribune. Citing an unnamed source, the Tribune reported that Hamilton was "lobbying hard" for the current opening at Illinois. The Illini two weeks ago fired previous head coach Bruce Weber, and are in the process of courting candidates. Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart, who has ties to the Midwest, was reportedly their top candidate.

He may not have been for long.

Just before 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, CBSSports.com college basketball writer Gary Parrish tweeted: "I can report that Shaka Smart has turned down Illinois for a final time and will stay at VCU."

The Chicago Sun-Times also has reported Smart turned down the Illini.

The Orlando Sentinel tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to speak with Hamilton about the reports linking and not linking him to Illinois. Through an FSU official, the coach has declined comment on what were termed "personal issues." A normally private person, Hamilton very rarely speaks about matters that extend off the basketball court.

If he is going to flirt with other teams, Hamilton certainly has more time to do so now.

FSU's most recent season ended late Sunday night in Nashville, Tenn., with a 62-56 loss to Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32. Coming one week after the Seminoles earned their first ACC Tournament championship in school history, and nearly two weeks after he was named the conference's Coach of the Year, the loss was a rather unexpected and deflating ending to an otherwise strong season.

"A lot of the credit has to go to the players, because they bought in," Hamilton said inside Bridgestone Arena on Sunday night. "I just think there's a lot of positive things that happened this year that's going to set the tone for the direction of this program."

Junior Seminoles guard Michael Snaer said that with Hamilton in control, the future is bright at FSU.

"You see our program get a lot more respect now, a lot more national recognition," Snaer said after Sunday's game. "I believe in this team. As long as Coach Hamilton is here, we're going to have a great program."

Hamilton, 63, has been at FSU since 2002 and has compiled a 179-125 record since that time.

According to Tuesday's Tribune report, Illinois athletics director Mike Thomas has been targeting African American coaches during his hunt. Smart and other rumored candidates Anthony Grant (Alabama) and Lorenzo Romar (Washington) are African American. So is Hamilton.

The Tribune also reported that in hopes of luring Smart, Illinois guaranteed facility renovations, a long-term contract and a salary that competed with the best of the Big Ten. That compensation would be comparable to that of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who makes more than $3 million per year.

Hamilton, whose current team plays in the Donald L. Tucker Center at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center through an agreement with the city, makes just more than $700,000 a year. Although the school has built a new basketball training center since Hamilton's arrival, the team still plays in a venue where concerts, rodeos, home shows and exhibitions are sometimes held at times when games and practices occur.

The Civic Center was constructed in 1978 and has had few minor renovations since then.